The 2nd Compassion Research Day at Facebook HQ

Supporting the 900+ million people who use Facebook is a big challenge and we have found that understanding the science of how people relate is essential in building tools that help people.

Over the last six months we've partnered with great researchers in the field of communicating emotion and social-emotional learning. We would like to share data and discuss what we've learned, host ... [read more]

Supporting the 900+ million people who use Facebook is a big challenge and we have found that understanding the science of how people relate is essential in building tools that help people.

Over the last six months we've partnered with great researchers in the field of communicating emotion and social-emotional learning. We would like to share data and discuss what we've learned, host some of the best researchers in the field of compassion research as well as a teacher and the youth he works with for our summer Compassion Research Day on July 11th.

The day is open to the public, if you know someone building tools that help communication between people, work with teachers who help with conflict resolution, or are interested in the science of how we relate, please invite them to come along.

Here is the schedule for the day (NOTE: times below are Pacific Standard Time):

9:15am-10:35am
This Post is a Problem
Adolescents report mild-to-severe incidences of bullying and other problematic behaviors on Facebook each day. Creating report flows that guide them to get the best help possible is critical to their well-being. Our team will share findings from newly designed reporting flows that were developed using principles of child development and input from Facebook's youngest users themselves.
Presenters:
Marc Brackett, Deputy Director, Health, Emotion, & Behavior Laboratory, Yale University
Robin Stern, Psychoanalyst; Program in Communication and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University
Andres Richner, Instructional Technologist; Educator

11:00am-12:30pm
I Am Not a Shoe
Reporting contentious content on FB has evolved from filling a form to engaging users in a meaningful exchange to facilitate empathy, mindfulness, and deeper social connection. We'll describe the progression of this process and the impact it has had on Facebook users' experience.
Presenters:
Dacher Keltner, Director of Berkeley's Social Interaction Laboratory
Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Science Director, Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley
Paul Piff, Post-Doctoral Research Scientist, Psychology Department, UC Berkeley

Lunch

1:15pm - 2:15pm
The Social Tuning of Compassion
What triggers, or tempers, our compassion for others? Though many have thought of compassion as a stable trait, this talk will highlight the very subtle ways in which our noble intuitions can be turned on and off, connecting and disconnecting us from one another at the flip of a switch.
Presenters:
Piercarlo Valdesolo, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, CA.

2:15pm - 3:15pm
The Costs of Compassion and Callousness
Compassion is a powerful moral emotion that often compels us to help others in need. Yet we often avoid feeling compassion in the pursuit of self-interested goals. In this talk, I will examine factors that motivate people to avoid feeling compassion for others, and how compassion avoidance changes how people think about morality.
Presenters:
Daryl Cameron, social psychology graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

3:30pm-4:45pm
Hope Required
Youth panel, led by Jeff Duncan-Andrade, that explores the questions: What are the material conditions that effect urban youth before they even step foot in our schools? What does it mean to develop educational environments that are relevant and responsive to these conditions? How should these educational spaces define success for students, educators, and the broader community?
Presenters:
Jeff Duncan-Andrade, East Oakland high school teacher, Associate Professor of Raza Studies and Education at San Francisco State University and Director of the Educational Equity Initiative at the Institute for Sustainable Economic, Educational, and Environmental Design (ISEEED).